Apparatus and method for drying stacks of sheet material

摘要

Stacks (16) of sheet material are moved on a conveyor (12, 14) between air manifolds (18, 20) and guide pins (19, 21); so that, drying gas is directed between the sheets of the stacks to cause the stacks to expand to form fluffed stacks 28 through which air moves readily to dry the sheets. A compression roller (26) is used to expel air from the fluffed stack and return the stack essentially to its original height. A reduction in tendency to curl is achieved in low relative humidity environments for sheets of photographic film.